ht diminish, quickly crawled
from beneath. Tarzan let the tree fall back to earth, and the two
beasts turned to look upon one another.

A grim smile lay upon the ape-man's lips, for he knew that he had taken
his life in his hands to free this savage jungle fellow; nor would it
have surprised him had the cat sprung upon him the instant that it had
been released.

But it did not do so. Instead, it stood a few paces from the tree
watching the ape-man clamber out of the maze of fallen branches.

Once outside, Tarzan was not three paces from the panther. He might
have taken to the higher branches of the trees upon the opposite side,
for Sheeta cannot climb to the heights to which the ape-man can go; but
something, a spirit of bravado perhaps, prompted him to approach the
panther as though to discover if any feeling of gratitude would prompt
the beast to friendliness.

As he approached the mighty cat the creature stepped warily to one
side, and the ape-man brushed past him within a foot of the dripping
jaws, and as he continued on through the forest the panther followed on
behind him, as a hound follows at heel.

For a long time Tarzan could not tell whether the beast was following
out of friendly feelings or merely stalking him against the time he
should be hungry; but finally he was forced to believe that the former
incentive it was that prompted the animal's action.

Later in the day the scent of a deer sent Tarzan into the trees, and
when he had dropped his noose about the animal's neck he called to
Sheeta, using a purr similar to that which he had utilized to pacify
the brute's suspicions earlier in the day, but a trifle louder and more
shrill.

It was similar to that which he had heard panthers use after a kill
when they had been hunting in pairs.

Almost immediately there was a crashing of the underbrush close at
hand, and the long, lithe body of his strange companion broke into view.

At sight of the body of Bara and the smell of blood the panther gave
forth a shrill scream, and a moment later two beasts were feeding side
by side upon the tender meat of the deer.

For several days this strangely assorted pair roamed the jungle
together.

When one made a kill he called the other, and thus they fed well and
often.

On one occasion as they were dining upon the carcass of a boar that
Sheeta had dispatched, Numa, the lion, grim and terrible, broke through
the tangled grasses close beside them.

With a